Garment fastener or clasp.



Nin rra'rs WILLIAM J. BAILEY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

GARlVlENT FASTENER OR CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 713,833, dated November 18, 1902.

Application filed August 5, 1902. Serial No. 118,439. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom/ t 'may 0072.067172.:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. BAILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment Fasteners or Clasps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part. of this specication.

The present invention has reference generally to improvements in that class of garment fasteners or clasps which are employed with ladies waists and other garments, comprising a pair of separable members, which will hereinafter be termed, respectively, a face-plate and back-plate and each of which is provided with means for bringing the said plates into their proper engagement for securing two portions of a` garment or the like in holding or closed relation.

The presentinvention therefore has for its primary object to provide a simple, neat, and cheaply-constructed garment fastener or clasp of the character hereinafter set forth, the two members of which can be readily sewed in position to the parts of the garment and can be easily manipulated for bringing the members of the clasp in their locked or holding engagement and also for separating the same.

The invention consists, therefore, in the novel construction of garment fastener or clasp hereinafter more particularly set forth; and, furthermore, the invention consists in the various novel arrangements and combinations of parts, as well as in the details of the construction thereof, all of which will be hereinafter fully described and then finally pointed out in the clauses of the claim which are appended to and form a part of this specification.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is aface View of two portions of a garment secured in their held relation by means of the clasp embodying the principles of the present invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are a face and rear view, respectively, of the two holding members of the garment fastener or clasp in their holding or locked relation. Fig. et is a longitudinal vertical section taken ou line 4 4 in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on line 5 5 in the same figure, both of the said figures being represented on enlarged scales. Fig. 6 shows two perspective views of the face-place of the device, and Fig.' 7 shows two perspective views of the backplate. Fig. 8 is a face View of a clasp or garment-fastener of a slightly-modified form of construction. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal vertical section of the two engaged face and back plates represented in said Fig. 8, and Fig. l0 is a perspective view of the back-plate employed in the construction of clasp illustrated in said Figs. 8 and 9. A Figs. 1l and 12 are perspective views of the face and back plate, respectively, of still another modified construction of clasp or garment-fastener which embodies the novel features of this invention.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the said above-described views to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawings, the reference characters 1 and 2 indicate any two parts of a garment, such as a shirt-Waist or part of a skirt or waistband, which are to be connected and arranged in secured relation to each other.

The reference character 3 indicates the complete garment fastener or clasp, the same comprising a face-plate 4.- and a back-plate The said face-plate 4, as will be seen more especially from Fig. 6, consists, essentially, of

'a raised main body portion', which is surrounded by a depressed marginal flange 7, in which there may be any number of suitablydisposed holes or perforations 8 for sewing the said face-plate in its proper position upon the part 'l of the garment, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The said face-plate is also provided with a suitablyconstructed spring-tongue 9, which is struck up from the said raised main body portion 6 and extends above the upper surface of said bodyportion. The free end portion 10 of said spring-tongue 9 extends in a slightlydownward direction, so as to terminate in close proximity above the opening l1, formed in the said raised main body portion 6. The

said end portion 10 of the said spring-tongue IOO 9 is also made with a suitable hole or opening 12 for the purpose to be presently -set forth.

By providing the face-plate with the marginal depression 7 it will be clearly understood that all the remaining parts of the faceplate are raised sufficiently above the face of the fabric of the garment that when the face and back plates slide together, in the manner to be presently described, the parts will not slide over the thread used for securing the members of the clasp in place and there will be no danger of cutting or wearing oif the threads to render the clasp inoperative.

The preferred form of back-plate 5 is represented more particularly in Fig. 7 of the drawings, and it consists, essentially, of a raised main body portion 13, which is partially surrounded by a depressed marginal edge 14, in which there are a number of holes or perforations 15 for sewing the said backplate in its operative position upon the portion 2 of the garment. The said raised body portion 13 and the said depressed marginal edge 14 of the back-plate are preferably cut away, as at 16, the said main raised body portion 13 being provided with a'pair of downwardly-forced lugs or projections 17 and an indentation 18.

When the face-plate and back-plate of the clasp are to be connected, the outer surface of the raised main body portion 13 of the backplate is caused to ride upon the outer surface of the raised main body portion 6 of the faceplate, whereby the spring-tongue 9 of the face-plate is brought in slidingengagement with the inner and lower surface of the said raised main body portion 13 of the back-plate, the raised lugs or projections 17 serving as guides to prevent lateral motion of the said parts and the perforated end portion 10 of the spring-tongue 9 of the face-plate being sprung over, and thereby brought in holding engagement with the protuberance 19, formed on the inner surface of the said main raised body portion 13 of the back-plate by the depression 18, formed therein. This manner of connecting the parts is clearly represented in Figs. 1, 4, and 5, whereby the several portions of the garment are securely and properly fastened against accidental displacement, but can be readily separated by a pull of the wearer of the garment when it is desired to disconnect the portions 1 and 2 thereof.

In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 I have illustrated a slightly-modified form of construction of garment fastener or clasp. In this construction the face-plate and back-plate are made without the raised main body portion, and the depressed marginal edges are also dispensed with. In place of the cut-away portion 16 in the said back-plate I have provided the said back-plate with a raised guiding-bridge 20, so as to form a slit 21 in the back-plate 5, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.

The manner of connecting or separating the parts is similar to that hereinabove described and will be clearly understood from I an inspection of Fig. 9 of the drawings.

In lieu of providing the face and back plates of the holding clasp or fastener represented in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive, with the depressed marginal edges 7 and 14, respectively, the said face and back plates may be made as illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12, the faceplate 4 being provided with the sewing holes or perforations 22, from which extend the angularly-arranged grooves or channels 23 in directions toward the marginal edge of the plate in which the thread is placed against wear and tear. In like manner the back-plate 5 is provided with suitably-disposed sewing holes or perforations 24, from which also extend the singularly-arranged grooves or channels 25 in directions toward the marginal edge of said back-plate in which the thread is arranged for the purposes above specified.

From the above description of my novel construction of garment fastener or clasp it will be clearly seen that I have devised a neat and simply-constructed device the parts of which can be readily brought in their operative holding engagement for securing two portions of a garment together, the said fastener or clasp comprising a face-plate and a back-plate which can be easily sewed in their proper positions on the parts of the garment and quickly connected without the least dan-v ger of cutting or tearing the threads while the two members of the device are slid over each other.

I am fully aware that changes may be made in the various arrangements and combinations of the parts without departing from the scope of my present invention. Hence I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the parts as described in the previous specification, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of the parts thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A garment-fastener, comprising a faceplate and a back-plate, the said face-plate having a raised main body portion and a marginal depression provided with perforations for sewing said face-plate in position, the said back-plate being provided with a raised main body portion and a marginal depression provided with perforations for sewing said backplate in position, and means connected with said face and back plates for slidably bringing said face and back plates in holding engagement, said means consisting, of a springtongue extending above the upper surface of the said main raised body portion of the faceplate, and said spring-tongue being provided with a holding-perforation, and a protuberance projecting from the lower and inner surface of the said main raised body portion of the back-plate, with which the perforated portion of said spring-tongue is brought in holding engagement, and a pair of down-v ICO IIO

wardlyextending guiding-lugs on the lower and inner surface of said raised body portion of the back-plate, between which the springtongue slides and which prevents lateral movement when the parts are in their holding engagement, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A garment-fastener, comprising, a faceplate and a back-plate, the said face-plate being provided with perforations for sewing said face-plate in position, the said back-plate being provided with perforations for sewing said back-plate in position, a spring-tongue extending above the upper surface of the main body of the said face-plate, and said spring-tongue being provided with a holdingperforation, and a protuberance projecting from the lower surface of the body portion of said back-plate, with which the perforated portion of the spring-tongue is brought in holding engagement, and a pair of downwardly-eXtending guiding-lugs also on the lower surface of the body portion of the said back-plate, between which the spring-tongue slides and prevents lateral movement when the parts are in their holding engagement, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day ot' August, 1902.

WILLIAM J. BAILEY. Witnesses:

FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, GEO. D. RICHARDS. 

